Components related to ethical decision making in medical science students: A structural equation model.

BACKGROUND: Evaluating moral principles in the Society of Medical Sciences and health care workers (HCWs) is imperative due to their direct contact with the community and the significant impact of their attitudes and decisions on people's lives. This study aimed to determine the components related to ethical decisions in medical sciences students. METHODS: One thousand two hundred thirty-five eligible students in the Alborz University of Medical Sciences participated in this descriptive study. We gathered their socio-demographic information, assessed their moral reasoning, and used the ethical decisions questionnaire, Lutsen moral sensitivity questionnaire, and general health questionnaire (GHQ) for data gathering. The data were analyzed with SPSS software version 25 and LISREL version 8.8. RESULTS: According to the path analysis test findings, ethical reasoning significantly correlated with ethical decision-making (B = 0.40). The number of clinical courses passed, moral sensation (moral sensitivity), and the total number of passed academic semesters had the greatest positive and negative association with ethical decision-making, respectively. (B = 0.54), (B = 0.524) and (B = -0.11). CONCLUSION: Based on the findings of the moral reasoning test, the moral sensation was associated with ethical decision-making, which indicates the necessity of attending to ethical aspects, promoting moral reasoning, sensitivity, and students' accuracy.

The relationships of spiritual health, pregnancy worries and stress and perceived social support with childbirth fear and experience: A path analysis.

BACKGROUND: Given maternal health is a major health indicator, the present research aimed at determining the causal relationships of spiritual health, worries, stress and perceived social support with the fear and experience of childbirth in pregnant women. METHODS: The present longitudinal prospective research recruited 352 pregnant women presenting to selected health centers in Qazvin, Iran in 2021. The data were collected using the Childbirth Experience Questionnaire-2 (CEQ-2), the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), the Persian version of the Pregnancy Worries and Stress Questionnaire (PWSQ), the Spiritual Health Questionnaire, the Socioeconomic Status (SES) questionnaire and a sociodemographic checklist, and were analyzed in SPSS-25 and Lisrel-8.8. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 28.1±6.8 years. According to the results of the path analysis, among the variables related to fear of childbirth, childbirth experience (B = -0.37, CI:-0.44;-0.22) in the direct path and perceived social support (B = -0.51, CI:-0.58;-0.43) in both direct and indirect paths demonstrated the most significant negative relationship. Among the variables related to childbirth experience, pregnancy worries and stress had a negative causal relationship (B = -0.06, CI:-0.079;-0.043) in the direct path, spiritual health showed the highest significant positive relationship (B = 0.01, CI: 0.008; 0.012) in the indirect path, and perceived social support (B = 0.112, CI: 0.092; 0.131) and the number of children (B = 0.32,CI: 0.30; 0.34) demonstrated the highest significant positive relationship in both direct and indirect paths. In other words, childbirth experience becomes more desirable as spiritual health, social support, and the number of children increases, and it becomes less desirable as pregnancy worries and stress rise. CONCLUSION: According to the present findings, various psychological, social, and spiritual factors are associated with childbirth fear and experience. It is thus necessary to utilize appropriate methods and promote training and support to reduce the adverse outcomes of childbirth.

Relationships among COVID-19 phobia, health anxiety, and social relations in women living with HIV in Iran: A path analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences have caused fear and anxiety worldwide and imposed a significant physical and psychological burden on people, especially women living with HIV (WLHIV). However, WLHIV were not studied as well as others during the pandemic. Hence, this study aimed to determine the relationships between COVID-19 phobia, health anxiety, and social relations in WLHIV. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study enrolled 300 WLHIV who had records at the Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Data were collected using sociodemographic questionnaire, the fear of COVID-19 scale, the social relations questionnaire, the socioeconomic status scale and the health anxiety inventory. Path-analysis was used to assess the direct and indirct associations between variables. RESULTS: Based on the path analysis, among variables that had significant causal relationships with social relations, socioeconomic status (ß = -0.14) showed the greatest negative relationship, and health anxiety (ß = 0.11) had the strongest positive relationship on the direct path. On the indirect path, fear of COVID-19 (ß = 0.049) displayed the greatest positive relationship. The level of education (ß = 0.29) was the only variable showing a significant positive relationship with social relations on both direct and indirect paths. CONCLUSION: Our result showed that increased fear and health anxiety related to a higher social relations score in WLHIV. Hence, due to their vulnerability, these people require more support and education to adhere to health protocols in future pandemics and similar situations.

The relationship model among parent-child relationship, coping responses and behavioral problems in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

BACKGROUND: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) constitutes a prevalent behavioral problem. The present study examined the parent-child relationship model and investigated strategies to cope with behavioral problems in children with ADHD. METHODS: This descriptive study selected 300 children with ADHD using convenience sampling. The data collected using the child behavior checklist, the parent-child relationship scale (PCRS), the Billings and Moos Coping Checklist, the socioeconomic status questionnaire, the general health questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) and a demographic checklist were analyzed in SPSS-25 and LISREL 8.8. RESULTS: According to the results of the path analysis on the relationship model among parent-child relationship domains, coping responses and children's behavioral problems, parent-child dependency domain (B = 0.22) in the direct path, disease duration (B = 0.085) in the indirect path, and conflicts in the domain of parent-child relationship (B = 0.366) in both direct and indirect paths had the most positive causal effect on behavioral problems. Furthermore, intimacy in the said domain (B = -0.42) had the most negative causal effect in both direct and indirect paths. The extent to which parents used coping responses via the direct path had a positive causal effect on behavioral problems (B = 0.12). Based on the path analysis test findings in the relationship model among positive parent-child relationship, coping responses and children's behavioral problems, the positive parent-child relationship score had the most negative causal effect via the direct path (B = -0.56). Conversely, the child's age had the highest positive causal effect via the indirect path (B = 0.1) on behavioral problems in children. CONCLUSION: Based on findings, there is a causal and significant relationship between the parent-child relationship and the extent to which coping responses are used. It is recommended that training programs be developed to strengthen communication skills, coping responses and problem-solving techniques in parents.

Social networks and internet emotional relationships on mental health and quality of life in students: structural equation modelling.

BACKGROUND: Social networks and relationships create a sense of belonging and social identity; hence, can affect mental health and the quality of life, especially in young people. The present study was conducted to determine the predicting role of social networks and internet emotional relationships on students' mental health and quality of life. METHODS: The present cross-sectional study was conducted in 2021 on 350 students at Alborz University of Medical Sciences selected by convenience sampling. Data were collected using five questionnaires: socioeconomic status, social networks, internet emotional relationships, stress, anxiety, depression scale (DASS-21), quality of life, and a checklist of demographic details. Data were analyzed in SPSS-25, PLS-3, and Lisrel-8.8. RESULTS: According to the path analysis, the DASS-21 score had the most significant positive causal association with internet emotional relationships in the direct path (B = 0.22) and the most negative association with socioeconomic status (B = - 0.09). Quality of life had the highest negative causal association with the DASS-21 score in the direct path (B = - 0.26) and the highest positive association with socioeconomic status in the indirect path (B = 0.02). The mean duration of using social networks (B ≈ - 0.07) and internet emotional relationships (B ≈ - 0.09) had the highest negative association with quality of life. CONCLUSION: The use of the internet and virtual networks, internet emotional relationships, and unfavorable socioeconomic status were associated with higher DASS-21 scores and reduced quality of life in the students. Since students are the future of countries, it is necessary for policymakers to further address this group and their concerns.